Teshuvah, From the (Dis)comfort of Your Own Home

After six months suspended between quarantine, isolation, and uncertainty, it’s natural to want to run away from home, especially as Yom Kippur looms and we realize it’s time for a change. But, as Matthew Nitzanim explains, this understandable reaction would miss the point of Teshuvah: everything we need to work on is right here, wherever it is we find ourselves.

This is not a poem

This is Not a Poem and other soon-to-be-published high holiday poems by Yehiel Poupko.

Return… Again? Theories of Twice-Baked Teshuvah

Lehrhaus founder Shlomo Zuckier examines the debate about whether we can repeat Teshuvah for the same sin.

Erev Rosh Hashana 

What happens at the end of the old year? Hillel Broder explored this boundary in his new poem for the Lehrhaus.

The Birthplace of Infertility

Infertility figures as a tragic theme not only on Rosh Hashanah but also in biblical narrative and modern life. This morning, Yael Leibowitz writes lyrically on The Birthplace of Infertility.

The Iniquity of Inequity

Rosh Hashanah is a day dedicated to reflecting on our relationships with all humanity. If so, Ari Perl contends, we confront the fact that for all the extraordinary work in the Orthodox community in regard to organ donation, there is one area where we have fallen short.

Human Words: Rav Elhanan Nir’s “Intentions for Rosh Hashanah”

Levi Morrow provides an all-new translation of Rav Elhanan Nir’s “Kavvanot for Rosh Hashanah,” and analyzes how these theological poems speak about our relationship with God and prayer on Rosh Hashanah.

Written and Sealed (and Stamped) in the Book of Life

We will all be much more distant from each other this Rosh Hashanah. That’s why, argues Ranana Dine, it’s time to revive the tradition of sending physical greeting cards.

Holistic Repentance: Life as a Story

Natan Oliff explores the theological implications of teshuva in a world that is God’s prescripted story.

Confronting God on Tishah Be-Av in Yehudah ha-Levi’s Yom Akhpi Hikhbadti

Yosef Lindell examines how Yehudah ha-Levi's kinnah about the bubbling blood of Zechariah modifies the story found in Talmudic sources and thus tackles the question of theodicy.